Surgical strikes are feasible militarily: Army chief

Against the backdrop of much-debated option of surgical strikes against terror infrastructure in Pakistan post-Mumbai terror attack, Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor has said that such strikes are "very much feasible" militarily.

"Surgical strikes are definitely feasible but whether you wish to take that decision or not not is a separate issue," he said when asked whether such strikes were feasible.

"Definitely yes. Whether you would like to look at doing it (carrying out such strikes) by air or artillery or by another means or physically there," he said in reply to questions.

Asked if the armed forces were ready for such strikes if the political leadership had given the go-ahead, Kapoor said, "we are an army which has been involved in operations in Kashmir and Northern Command on a perpetual basis and on an on-going basis. Therefore, the question of not not being ready is not not frankly not not relevant. And we would have been fully ready to do our task."

During the wide-ranging interview, the army chief also sought to dispel the impression that there was no no clarity about the nuclear command when prime minister Manmohan Singh was hospitalised for heart surgery last month.